“Cows overgrazing can kill the new grass,” says Craig Roberts, University of Missouri Extension forage specialist.

Roberts and a team from the Alliance for Grassland Renewal will explain those steps in four one-day workshops, starting March 31. The group aims to eradicate toxic K-31 fescue. First, they teach how to reseed with one of five available varieties of novel-endophyte fescue.

Many farmers know the MU plan for “spray-smother-spray,” Roberts says. The yearlong process kills K-31 – and seeds in the soil.

The new varieties take more management, however. That will be a big part of the schools held across the state.

“Grass management is tricky,” Roberts says. The problem is that the toxic K-31 fescue was almost impossible to kill. The endophyte fungus in the grass limited overgrazing by livestock. The toxin limited feeding.

The fescue schools will teach ways to plant and manage the new varieties, Roberts says. “We know how to kill the old fescue. And we know how to manage the new fescue.”

The methods have been tested at MU agricultural research centers and nearby farms.

Each type of forage requires its own management, Roberts says. Alfalfa is managed for hay quality. Bermuda grass is managed for forage quality. Annual lespedeza is managed for self-reseeding. The old K-31 is managed to reduce toxicosis.

Novel-endophyte fescues must be managed for persistence. After the expense of reseeding, the stand must be protected. The major point: Novel fescue cannot be managed like old toxic fescue, Roberts says.

With management, new fescues boost pounds of calf.

Current calf prices give incentives to seed a new variety. The payback on pasture renewal will be faster when calves sell for $2.40 a pound instead of 90 cents.

The time is right to renovate toxic pastures, Roberts says. He urges innovators to come to the nearest school at the MU research centers of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

Each school has limited capacity. “We can’t enroll everyone who needs to attend,” Roberts says.

The Alliance brings together researchers, extension specialists, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, seed and testing companies, nonprofit organizations and farmers. All have been working to renovate fescue pastures across the state.